Enemies: A Love Story Page #5

You're asking me to break the law.

I would be afraid of every policeman.

- You're afraid anyhow.

- That's right. That's right.

- Answer me!

- I told you, yes! Yes!

Yes!

But our baby would be a bastard

anyway, according to the Jewish law.

It was conceived

before the divorce.

Jewish law

and all the other laws...

mean as much to me

as last year's frost.

I'm only doing it

for my mother.

I've wanted your child

since the day we met.

## [Humming]

[Knock On Door]

[Knocking]

## [Resumes Humming]

- Herman.

- I'm marrying again.

A third wife? Who?

Masha.

I thought she already

had a husband.

She's divorcing him.

She's pregnant.

Well, congratulations.

You're going to be a father again.

- I'm going crazy. That's the truth.

- Were you always like this?

Or did the war do it?

I can't remember what kind

of person you used to be.

I can't believe you've come to

me under these circumstances.

Tamara, please.

My head is exploding.

Come in. I'll get you

something to eat.

[Door Closes]

[Both Sigh]

- You remember my cousin Isaac?

- Ja, ja.

Yeah? Well, he married

Helen Edela.

They met again in the camp.

- Helen Ede...

- Helen Edela.

- The one that...

This was this big.

- You remember?

- Oh, my God.

Where-Where are they now?

- In Tel Aviv. They hate it.

[Laughing]

[Mumbling, Sighs]

I don't want to go home,

Tamara.

What do you want to do?

Stay here among the dead?

I can't face Yadwiga yet.

[Rustling, Banging]

[Rustling, Banging]

I have a sleeping pill

if you want one.

If I were lying with you,

then I would sleep.

Come into my bed.

You won't believe me...

but sometimes

our little David and Sarah

come to me at night.

They talk till morning.

But when I wake up,

I don't remember anything.

I believe you.

Tamara, I want to...

I want to ask you something.

Don't-Don't be mad at me.

- [Sighs]

- What?

During all those, uh,

all those years, uh...

you never had a single man?

Suppose I did.

I'm just curious. You can be

perfectly honest with me.

- Then why are you shaking?

- [Chuckles Nervously]

I'm not shaking.

Yes. There was someone.

- Yeah?

- In Russia. Everything

happened there.

So, uh, who was it?

[Chuckles]

A man. Not a woman.

One. Several of them.

Look, you told me this much.

You might as well tell me everything.

Three.

Three? Three men?

I didn't know you were alive.

I assumed if you were,

you'd be doing the same thing.

[Breathing Heavily]

Well, then you're a whore.

Didn't I tell you?

[Quiet Sobbing]

- Herman?

- What?

Herman, wake up.

- Herman?

- Mm.

There was no one.

Not one man.

Not three men.

Not even half a man.

- You're lying.

- No.

[Sobbing] Over there...

women gave themselves

to men they hardly knew.

But whenever someone

tried to get close to me...

[Sobs] I always saw the faces

of our children before me!

Oh, God. Oh, God!

Oh, God, Herman!

Oh, God!

[Yadwiga] I bake special

New Year challah.

I make carp's head

like I'm supposed to.

Then he calls and says

he cannot be there...

he must sell...

Encyclopedia Britannica.

What is

Encyclopedia Britannica?

And now he says he must go

to Indiana. What is Indiana?

What is Indiana?

"What is alimony," is what

you should be asking.

- You need a lawyer.

- Yadwiga.

## [Cantor Singing In Hebrew]

## [Cantor Continues]

I have tickets for us.

I paid $10 for these tickets.

Please, Herman.

It's important for me.

Our neighbors will be there.

- Everyone will see us. Please.

- I will not go to synagogue

once a year...

like these assimilated hypocrites

who call themselves Jews!

The neighbors say

you have mistress! [Gasps]

Herman. You've hit me

on Yom Kippur?

The holiest day of the year?

I saved your life.

I took the last bite of food

out of my mouth...

and gave it to you

in the hayloft.

I carry out your sh*t.

[Sobs]

[Whispering] I'm sorry, Yadzia.

Yadzia, Yadzia, Yadzia.

[Sobbing Continues]

Forgive me. You go.

You go to the synagogue.

You go.

You pray for me, ja?

Go.

[Sobbing Continues]

## [Cantor Singing In Hebrew]

## [Continues]

- ## [Cantor]

- [Sobbing]

Hello, children.

## [Ends]

[Woman Chattering Happily]

- Tortshiner?

- Broder? Come in, please.

I have every reason

to be your enemy, Broder.

But I tell you right off

I'm here for your sake.

- Have some cheesecake.

- No, thank you.

You can afford it!

I have to watch my weight.

So I take the, uh...

I take the compote.

- Huh? Some tea?

- Yeah. I-I take tea.

- Two teas, please?

- [Man] Okay.

Masha tells me that you

are something of a-a writer.

But I am a scientist, and

I believe, before one acts...

one must have all the facts.

Oh, yeah? So what are

the facts, Mr. Tortshiner?

The facts are that your Masha

bought her divorce from me...

at a price

no honest woman would pay...

even if her life depended on it.

No, no, no, no,

no, no, no.

This is on me.

Normally, I would have

no reason to take an interest in you.

- But I happened to

strike up an acquaintance...

- [Register Ringing]

With your employer.

Thank you.

Rabbi Lembeck.

He told me you suffered

a great deal during the war.

Huh?

What price did she pay,

Mr. Tortshiner?

[Grunts]

Drink your tea.

It's getting cold.

Did you know your Masha was

the lover of a Red Army deserter?

Who smuggled gold

from Bessarabia?

I won't deny it.

I am still in love with her.

She drives men crazy.

Anyway, things went bad

for us, and we had been apart

for almost two years.

When she calls and says

she wants to see me.

So she comes over

all dressed up.

Fit to kill, as they say.

I had already heard

all about you.

But she-she told me

the whole story, as if

it happened only yesterday.

How she had fallen in love,

she had gotten pregnant,

she wants a divorce, blah blah.

She sat down in front of me

and crossed her legs.

Like an actress

posing for a photograph.

Huh? I said to her...

"You behaved like a prostitute

when you were with me,

now pay the price."

She hardly protested.

"We are still man and wife," she said.

[Laughs Bitterly]

I guess it's permitted.

To this day, I don't know

why I did it. Vanity, perhaps.

Anyway, I met Rabbi Lembeck,

he told me all about you...

and I realized she had caught

you in her net as she had me.

Perhaps she's attracted

to intellectuals.

- [Swallowing]

- [Slamming Glass]

[Chair Scraping]

- I won't marry her.

- I can't say I blame you.

You can't tell with Masha.

[Scoffs]

She's just the type

to have a bastard,

and then where would you be?

Thank you very much,

Mr. Tortshiner.

Broder!

Broder!

Broder, one last thing.

Every female sits in her own net,

like a spider waiting for a fly.

If you don't run away,

they'll suck the last drop

of life out of you.

Thank you. Again.

"And these are the duties

that the wife performs

for the husband:

- [Phone Ringing]

- "She grinds, bakes, washes, cooks...

- [Rings]

- "Nurses the child,

makes the bed and spins wool.

"Rabbi Eliezer says,

'Even if she brought him

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